I find cooking an artistic outlet. My ability to create beauty on a plate. I love the textures, the tastes, and the visual displays food brings. The joy in cooking various dishes, and experimenting with different flavours and culinary techniques. Most of all, I love the social aspect. The serving of something delicious to a welcoming crowd.
Lately that welcoming crowd has been my two little family members. One who has opinions regarding what she is willing to try, and one who simply indulges regardless what is on his plate. To say my audience has been a test in my ability to be inspired, is a bit of an understatement.
What this latest social isolation experiment has taught me, is that if I was cooking for just me, I would be surviving on tomato soup and crackers. The whole point of my culinary mission, is to share it.
This week, I decided to take a leap of faith. Risk audience member one hating the dish and audience member two eating from the living room. I decided to cook with mushrooms, and champagne. I chose to make a sauce and serve it to my family of mushroom and sauce haters. It was a bold move. One I would not normally make unless the circumstances were dire, and as we sit on week 7 of social distance, I would say the opportunity presented itself.
So I did it. I played in the kitchen and pretended I was back in the swing of cooking for my clients. I donned my work apron, and leapt into the belly of the culinary beast. Mixing tomato with mushroom, champagne with flour, tossing lemon zest around like confetti..and the result. This delicious, two thumbs up from my harsh critics, chicken, mushroom and champagne, cast iron skillet dish.
2 large Portobello Mushrooms cleaned and thinly sliced
1 cup of Shiitake Mushrooms washed, and peeled in half.
I shallot sliced into thin pieces. (I slice them lengthwise as opposed to cross wise)
2 tsp fresh Thyme leaves
1.5 tsp of All Purpose Flour
1 tbsp of Tomato Paste
1.5 tsp of Soya Sauce
1.5 cups of Champagne
1/2 tsp of Lemon Zest
1 tsp of Lemon Juice
Instructions
The first step in this dish is to preheat your oven to 350°. Grab a cast iron skillet, parchment lined sheet pan, wooden spoon, whisk, instant read thermometer, and all of your pre-prepped ingredients, and you’re ready to go.
Place your olive oil in the frying pan and turn the pan on to medium high heat. Allow it to warm up. It is ready when you hover your hand over the pan and you feel “heat”…not warmth..Heat.
If you have not already done so (see tip below), remove your chicken from the package and using a paper towel, pat it dry on all sides.
Sprinkle some Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper on the chicken. Both sides. Then place the chicken, skin side down in the pan. It should “sizzle” upon contact. Cook the chicken for approximately 4-5 minutes. The skin should be a nice golden color and it should not stick to the pan. Flip and cook an additional 4 minutes. Once ready, remove from the pan and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment and pop it in the oven. Set your timer for 15 minutes.
Using the same skillet on medium high heat, add 2 tbsp of the butter to the pan. Then add the mushrooms. Cook until they are nicely browned, flipping occasionally with a wooden spoon. This will take about 6 minutes. Maybe more or less depending on the pan size and mushroom thickness.
Once mushrooms are cooked, add the shallots and the herbs. Cook for a quick minute, and then promptly add your flour and tomato paste. Give this combo a good stir to combine, and allowing the tomatoes to caramelize a little bit. This happens quickly, in approximately 30 seconds.
Now add your soya sauce and champagne. I know…sounds weird but trust me on this one. Using a whisk, combine the ingredients scraping up any brown bits from the pan. Keep on stirring for about 4-5 minutes until the sauce has reduced to about 1 cup in volume. Once there, turn off the heat.
Add the remaining butter, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the sauce. Season to taste with salt. Add some pepper if you wish once seasoning has been reached.
Remove your chicken from the oven and check for an internal temp of 175°. Allow the chicken to rest for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, get your plates ready. Spoon a nice amount of the sauce on the bottom of each plate. Top with chicken and then drizzle a spoonful of sauce over top of the chicken. Garnish with Thyme and serve.
Notes
Tip: For a nice crisp brown chicken, unwrap the chicken the night before you plan to cook it. Pat it dry with paper towel, and allow it to air, uncovered in the fridge for at least 4 hours but preferably over night.
adoptedtomato
